SANDRA L. CHARLES: Ms. Charles started C&O Resources 25 years ago, after serving for over 15 years in the USG in both the National Security and Foreign Policy communities; serving as Director, Near East and South Asia, member of the National Security Council staff, in the White House and as Deputy Assistant Secretary (acting) of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and in International Security Affairs. She has expertise in Middle Eastern, South Asian and African issues and programs related to US national security and foreign policy goals and objectives. She has participated in high level negotiations and policy development on security cooperation, international agreements, foreign military sales, peace initiatives, and crisis management, including the first Bush Administration's policy for Operation Desert Storm.

Principal Senior Adviser

AMBASSADOR LINCOLN BLOOMFIELD, JR.: Lincoln Bloomfield Jr. was U.S. Special Envoy for MANPADS Threat Reduction from 2008-09. From 2001-2005 he was U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs, also serving as Special Representative of the President and Secretary of State for Humanitarian Mine Action. He was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs (1992-93), Deputy Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs (1991-02), member of the US team negotiating for US facilities in the Philippines (1991-92) and the US water mediation between Israel and Jordan (1990), and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (1988-89) among other policy positions in DoD beginning in 1981. He is Chairman Emeritus of the non-partisan Stimson Center, National Executive Committee Member of the U.S. Water Partnership, and President of Palmer Coates LLC. Author and commentator on many foreign policy and security topics, he holds degrees from Harvard College and the Fletcher School.

Principal Senior Adviser

AMBASSADOR RONALD L. SCHLICHER: Ambassador Ron Schlicher was the State Department's Principal Deputy for the Middle East; Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Counter Terrorism; Ambassador to Cyprus; Deputy Assistant Secretary / Coordinator for Iraq and served in Iraq with the CPA; Deputy Director for Regional Affairs in the Office of the Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism (S/CT). Deputy Chief of Mission in Beirut, Lebanon.; Chief of Mission and Consul-General in Jerusalem. He also served in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; Damascus, Syria; and Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt and as Chief Civilian Observer at MFO in the Sinai as well as in other positions at State Department. He is fluent in Arabic (several dialects) and French.

Chief of Operations and Executive Director of SASI

NATE MASON: Nate worked for the U.S. government for eight years focusing primarily on North Africa economic and commercial policy. His last assignment was Commercial Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli from 2011-2013. He is currently a consultant based in Washington DC working with companies seeking to do business in the Middle East & North Africa.

Senior Adviser for Congressional Affairs

M. ROXANNE PERUGINO: Roxanne Perugino has over thirty years’ experience in congressional affairs and foreign policy. Her specialty is the legislative process and the US Foreign Assistance program. Ms. Perugino most recently served as the Legislative Policy Analyst for the Arab Center Washington DC. Prior to that she was the Senior Associate for Congressional Affairs at C&O Resources. Following more than a decade on the House Foreign Affairs Committee Ms. Perugino served as a Washington consultant to various foreign governments, including Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon and Pakistan.

Senior Adviser

JOY E. DRUCKER: Joy E. Drucker has had over twenty years of experience working in the Executive branch, U.S. Congress, and the private and non-profit sectors on a wide range of foreign policy and national security issues. From 2011-2013, she was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs, an office where she had previously served, from 1999-2001, as the Legislative Management Officer for Near Eastern Affairs. She was a Vice President at Stonebridge International, a strategic advisory firm founded by former National Security Advisor Samuel Berger, and served in leadership capacities at a number of Washington’s leading think thanks, including the Council on Foreign Relations and the Partnership for a Secure America. Ms. Drucker began her work in Washington as foreign policy adviser to the House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt.

Senior Adviser

COL. P. J. DERMER, (Ret.): Colonel (Retired) Pj Dermer was one of the Army’s foremost National Security and Middle East Regional experts. He fostered substantial contributions at the national level by operationalizing strategy in the complicated environments of the Middle East, Europe and Africa. He is seasoned strategist, mentor, educator, and trainer for host nation governments and private business interests.

Senior Adviser

AMBASSADOR ROBIN RAPHEL: Ambassador Robin Raphel is an advisor on political and economic developments in South Asia and the Middle East. She retired from the State Department for a second time in October 2014 after a five year stint with the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. She served first as Assistance Coordinator in Pakistan at the behest of the late Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, and later as the Senior Advisor for Pakistan.
Before returning to the State Department, Ambassador Raphel served as Deputy Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, and as Senior Vice President for international affairs for the consulting firm Cassidy and Associates.
Ambassador Raphel launched the Congressionally­-mandated South Asia Bureau at the State Department in 1993, serving as the first Assistant Secretary of State for this new regional bureau. She was U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Tunisia in the late 1990s. She became Vice President of the National Defense University in 2000, and in 2003 joined the first civilian team deployed to Iraq to set up the new civilian administration. As Senior Advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of Trade, she oversaw the restoration of the critical food distribution system. She then became Coordinator for Iraq Reconstruction, working with all national security agencies to ensure more effective and relevant reconstruction programs.
Ambassador Raphel began her federal government career as an economic analyst for CIA, focusing on the oil­rich state of Indonesia. She later joined the Foreign Service, working on detail to USAID as an economic/financial analyst in Pakistan. Returning to the State Department, she worked on inward investment policy and efforts to set standards for conduct of U.S. investors abroad, and on economic assistance issues for Israel. She served as Staff Aide to the Assistant Secretary for Near East and South Asian Affairs, and as Special Assistant to the Undersecretary for Political Affairs. She was posted to the U.S. Embassy in London where she covered regional issues involving the Middle East, South Asia, Africa, and East Asia, and later as Political Counselor in U.S. embassies in South Africa and India. Before joining the Foreign Service she taught history at Damavand College in Tehran, Iran.
Ambassador Raphel was born in Vancouver, Washington, and is a graduate of the University of Washington in history and economics. She did graduate studies at Newhall College in Cambridge, England in Modern European History. She holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of Maryland.

Senior Adviser

PETER C. LYON: Peter C. Lyon is an international policy communications specialist and former U.S. diplomat. His skill set includes writing, editing, research, public speaking, education, and conference planning. He has worked extensively with foreign counterparts as well as DoD, USAID, and DHS partners. Lyon served in the Department of State Foreign Service as an analyst in the Bureaus of Political Military Affairs and Counterterrorism in Washington, as a Political-Military Officer in Slovenia, and a Consular Officer in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. He has also worked with the U.S. Institute of Peace, the World Bank Group, and the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research. He speaks Spanish and is knowledgeable in Arabic and Slovenian. Lyon holds Masters degrees in both Public Affairs and Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Texas and a BA in History and Spanish from Knox College.

Information Analyst

KHASHAYAR KHATIRI: Bio Coming Soon.

Analyst

L. DAVID HERMAN: Mr. Herman has worked with Ms. Charles for six years at C&O Resources, Inc. He started out as an intern prior to and while attending George Mason University, where he graduated the Honors College with a Bachelor of Science in Economics, and now works full-time following ISIS and other terrorist groups, the GCC states, Iran, Iraq and the Levant, preparing analytical reports and monitoring news and information on the Middle East.

Business Manager
Corporate Secretary/Treasurer

RANDALL L. ALLEN: Mr. Allen has seven years USG experience as a former Department of Defense employee working for the Defense Mapping Agency before moving to the private sector. He is a graduate of VA Tech with a background in Geography, Thematic Mapping and Remote Sensing and GIS technologies. He also has a Business degree and an extensive backgound in providing business and IT services in the corporate sector. For additional information, please visit www.randall-allen.com.